People in many areas of Chicago might not have had an exposure to theater due to several factors: money, transportation, time.

How do you introduce theater to people who live in areas like or live in Cabrini-Green and Altgeld Gardens in Chicago? Do you make it free and easily accessible, performing in a park in the community?

And what plays would be done?

Would the city have to take the initiative, or would a theater company do so?

Having theater in a community that is easily available to the residents is like a library: it enriches knowledge and imagination.

Perhaps this sounds very naïve, but these were all thoughts that occurred to me while I was trying to think of the practical applications of public policy and urban theory to the theater. These thoughts can also be applied to any city.

It’s not exactly the same thing, but several years ago at the Humana Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville presented a commissioned work by Naomi Iizuka that was about the Butchertown section of the city. It was at one point a large meat-packing district and still is to some extent today.

She interviewed residents, built up a history of the area and developed a show that covered the history of Butchertown and, like “The Wire,” its decline.

The play, “At the Vanishing Point,” was actually staged in an abandoned factory in Butchertown, just a few minutes by shuttle from the theatre. They created a fantastic temporary playing space there, and it played to good audiences. It also played to a fair number of the immediate residents of the area, most of whom had never been to see live theatre, let alone Actors Theatre.

Maybe we need to develop projects like this, projects that connect directly to residents’ experiences and transforms them into easily accessible art. Develop adaptations of classic plays set within a similar world.

Any time you want to introduce something to a new audience, you have to fully involve the community you’re trying to reach. That’s as true if you’re trying to get rural Southerners into soccer as if you’re trying to get a public housing development into theater. If your touring soccer team announces that it’s playing a match in Alabama, you’re only likely to generate interest if you spend the week passing out soccer balls and offering clinics – and you’re only likely to build a sustained interest in your events if you work to ensure that the community has an ownership of it. That means establishing long-term ties with members of that community to support them as they form their own teams.

I’m using the soccer analogy because the rules are the same anytime you’re trying to get people to pay attention to something they haven’t got a cultural inclination to care about – it’s not unique to theater at all. You can’t interest people by imposing it on them, only by creating it with them. It goes deeper than just telling stories that the community can relate to. You have to tell stories that the community is invested in. Otherwise, frankly, they’ve gotten by just fine without theater, and you probably don’t understand their lives well enough to connect, anyway.

This echoes a lot of what’s been said in previous comments, but I’m re-stating it because, honestly, I don’t think it -can- be overstated. There’s a real possibility of coming in as a well-meaning carpetbagger, and I think that the only way to avoid that is to make sure you’re not thinking in terms of “how do we get people in Cabrini Green to come see theater” and instead thinking of “how do we get people in Cabrini Green to start making theater”. The answer to the first question is probably, “You don’t.” The answer to the second one is that you start a company in the community you want to serve.

Sterling, I agree that the approach should be applied to wherever theater is because it does engage the (potential) audience immediately. And having the residents contribute to the actual writing is even better.

Dan, if I’m understanding what you’re saying, what you’re suggesting is a community theater in a completely literal meaning of the term. Theater that is created by the people, performed by the people, for the people. Am I wrong?

To add to Dan’s comment, you need to create community partnerships. Contact organizations who already have ties to the community. Don’t go in thinking that everyone is going to fall all over themselves with excitement just because it’s you and theatre. Partner with existing organizations or community leaders so that you’re seen to be working WITH the community from the start, rather than coming in with white knight mentality.

The other most important thing is to listen without trying to immediately impose your own idea of what should happen. Listen completely and respectfully and start from there. Ask the community what they want. Don’t assume you know best. There can be a real paternalistic attitude to bringing ‘culture’ to labeled groups (impoverished, marginalized, minority, etc) and frankly, people can sense it.

Anyone you work with has things to teach you about theatre and creativity that you never suspected. Be open to learning as much as you teach.